Ding-dong-don’t: Have you heard of this prank? It can get you in legal trouble in Idaho
Ding-dong-ditch is a classic childhood mischief game, in which a group of kids sneaks up to a household, rings the doorbell or bangs on the door, before sprinting away and hiding behind a nearby bush or car.
While the activity may seem like harmless fun, it could potentially lead to legal issues for those pulling the prank if the victim gets sick and tired of it.
Some Boiseans are already getting to that point. One resident, Lynda Gaber of Columbia Village neighborhood in southeast Boise, recently posted on the social media app NextDoor that someone has been ringing her doorbell late at night.
“Guess it was our turn last night,” Gaber wrote on NextDoor. “At 12:05 a.m. someone rang our doorbell about 50 times. Our big dog was going crazy. By the time my husband got some clothes on they were gone. It happened again at 2:45 am. Not that anyone cares but I have insomnia and had finally fallen asleep. This is really annoying.”
Another Boise resident, Toni Stiles, posted a similar account on NextDoor in April.
“We just had some kid, like 12 or so, just come and bang on our door. He ran off and my partner went outside and there were two kids who rode off on bicycles,” Stiles wrote. “One of them was wearing a bright orange hoodie. I live in the Silver Sage neighborhood off of Mojave. If they come back again I’ll probably call the cops. It kinda freaked me out.”
Is ding-dong-ditching illegal?
Ringing a doorbell and running away as a prank is something kids have been doing since the 19th century and perhaps even earlier. Usually it’s fairly harmless — but that wasn’t the case for a California man who was recently found guilty of murder after killing three teenagers who ding-dong-ditched his house.
Assuming most people won’t go such extreme lengths, ding-dong-ditching isn’t illegal in Idaho, but it can lead to other run-ins with the law.
According to Boise Police Department spokesperson Haley Williams, a resident can file harassment or disturbing the peace charges, especially if the prank is a regular occurrence.
And although both charges can come with hefty consequences, Williams said a ding-dong-ditch case would only be a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor in Idaho is punishable by a maximum of 6 months in county jail and a fine not exceeding $1,000.
Additionally, a police officer can’t charge an individual with a misdemeanor unless the officer sees the crime being committed themselves. A citizen’s arrest can be made when a crime is committed or attempted in the victim’s presence. Idaho requires the victim to deliver the arrested individual to a peace officer or in front of a magistrate as soon as possible.
So while ding-dong-ditching may seem like a bit of fun for kids, it’s probably wiser to ding-dong-don’t do it.
